WOSU News Archives For April 2007

A Franklin County judge has delayed a rule that exempted some private clubs from the state’s smoking ban. Judge David Cain issued a temporary restraining order Monday at the request of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, a bar owners’ trade group.

An Ohio campus security task force, that was formed in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, held its first meeting today. Dozens of task force members from across the state participated by plugging into a video conference.

A mother whose teenaged son died at a church camp in Logan County last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Tonya Amoako-Okyere is seeking damages in excess of $25,000. The Logan County coroner says James McCoy III committed suicide by hanging. But McCoy’s mother says he was killed when four other youths played a prank called The Choking Game.

Ever since the shooting deaths of 32 people at Virginia Tech University earlier this month, many people have been asking questions about whether the same could happen here in Ohio. That includes Ohio’s attorney general. He’s found a serious problem in the system for issuing permits to carry concealed weapons in the buckeye state.

Mayor Coleman and police officials Thursday announced plan for another summer police strike force which aims to reduce crime in high crime areas of the city. This year the city will spend $1-million on police overtime to patrol crime hot spots .

Monday, Columbus-based Nationwide Insurance settled out of court with up to 227 Mississippi Gulf Coast homeowners who were victims of Hurricane Katrina. This settlement comes after other national insurance companies made similar settlements.

Officials at state-supported universities and community colleges across Ohio are now hopeful they will receive a boost of government dollars that’s even larger than the one Governor Ted Strickland has proposed. That’s because Republicans who dominate the Ohio House of Representatives are vowing to pump even more state money into higher education.